Lions and the Internet:
Lost in Cyberspace or Web Masters?
By Cliff Terry

Last year a brand-new Lions club in Pinehurst, North Carolina, received its charter, not an unusual event except that its name was the Sandhill Cyberspace Lions Club. That’s cyberspace—as in the Internet, Web sites and all that. The advantage of a cyberspace club, says president Michael Martin, is that “you can be at home, put on a pair of shorts, have a cup of coffee and sit in front of a computer, and know that within an hour, we’ll take care of all
the club’s business. If you can’t attend a meeting, you can still vote for
things.”

A while back, Andrew Doan, ophthalmology resident at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, came up with an imaginative idea to help raise money for the University of Iowa Health Care Lions Club: Internet users could click on the club’s shopping Web site, order items from over 400 merchants—from Lands’ End to Fresh Dan’s Chocolates—and the club would receive commissions than could range from 2 to 40 percent.

“It’s a brilliant concept,” says Cindy Reed, the club’s assistant secretary and a registered nurse who’s also executive director of the Iowa Lions Eye Bank. “Before, the club had no Internet connection. “Andy called me recently and said, ‘Somebody in your club bought a mattress!’ I said, ‘Nooo.’ He said, ‘Well, somebody bought a $1,500 mattress through your site and your club got a $100 commission.’ The buyer could have been a visitor to the hospital from another state who used our site. So it opens up so many opportunities to raise funds—and we don’t have to go door to door!”

In 2004, the Petersburg Lions Club in Tennessee decided to do something that Gene Roberson, its current secretary, calls “totally off the wall”—start a newspaper in the small town that had no media outlet at all. The four-page, free monthly publication thrived, but the printing costs increased, so that this year the club decided to put up the newspaper (talk about off the wall) electronically.

“Initially, we put 200, then 525 print copies in local businesses,” Roberson recalls. “However, our printer increased his rates until we were spending about $1,200 a year. So we came up with the idea of doing the electronic
edition, starting this February. About 70 are getting electronic copies, and I expect we’ll grow. I’m guessing the real distribution is probably over 100 as they e-mail it to friends and relatives out of state. But we still print it—470 paper copies. The idea is, as the electronic thing catches on, maybe we can get down to, oh, 300 or 400.”

So what’s going on here?

Well, more and more Lions clubs are discovering the benefits of the surging Internet. And for some folks, such as Ron Raines, it’s about time.

“My message recently at the quarterly meeting of our district in California was that we really need to promote Web sites and e-mails using Internet technology for Lionism,” says Raines, Web master for District 4 A-1 (62 clubs) as well as president and Web master of the Le Grand Club in California. “And there are a lot of older members who probably are never really going to go for the Internet technology. But time marches on, and the Lions aren’t always going to be guys born in the 1930s, 40s or 50s.”

But many other Lions are in tune with online. Raines, whose Le Grand Web site was chosen as the Lions’ top site in 2004 by Lions Clubs International, notes that only about 10 percent of his district’s clubs currently have Web sites, but adds: “That percentage is low, but it’s starting to go up. The younger members are really going for it.”

No question, many Lions and clubs are enthusiastically seizing Internet opportunities.

“In the past, you may not have known what a club down the freeway was doing,” observes Don Allen, district governor of District 4 A-1. “Now I see that club Web sites include calendars and flyers about their events. They also send them to the district site so that clubs perhaps in the same city can see what’s going on elsewhere.”

Lions are using the Internet to get their messages out and he can prove it, said Raines. “I recently discovered a new search engine on the Web. The URL [Internet browser address] is blogsearch.google.com. Type ‘Lions club’ in the search field window and make sure that you use the quotation marks. You’ll get a very long list of articles submitted by Lions to newspapers, libraries and community Web sites.”

LionWap has helped many clubs get started on the Web. A service of LionNet (see sidebar), LionWap offers an easy-to-use template to create a site.  More than half of the 10,340 sites linked to LionNet used LionWAP,  says Dan Uitti, a U.S. administrator for LionNet (see sidebar) and a member of the Watertown, Connecticut, club. “The template lends itself to simple design, so the clubs that use it are in pretty good shape for the basics.”

Many clubs also are taking their site one step further by cross-linking their site with a public library, the chamber of commerce and other local groups, says Uitti.

All right, so how computer savvy are Lions in general?

“I’d say half of our clubs are savvy, half aren’t,” says José Diaz, Web master not only for his own Hammonton club but also for District 16 and 16-C. “New members whom we’re attracting pretty much have used our Web sites. It’s pretty much an age thing. We have a large club, and we do have a lot of older members. That’s what’s hurting some other clubs. Their membership may be going down because they need to get younger people, and the Internet will help bring in new people.”

“Obviously, we’re not as savvy as the kids,” says Uitti, 53, “But we do feel a need to be there. A lot of retirees who have never used a computer before are buying computers. And a lot of almost-retirees are being forced to use computers toward the end of their career, so they’re getting into it —sometimes a little reluctantly. But some of them are just jumping into it and doing everything they can. Others, though, are still spooked by technology. It drives them a little crazy.”

“A lot of Lions don’t have the tenacity to deal with the Internet or sometimes are just afraid of it,” remarks Allen. “The frustration from my standpoint as a district governor is they maybe read their e-mails only once a week, and that’s a shortfall. On the other hand, there are a lot of Lions like me who are now using the Internet every day as a normal means of communication. It’s a much more efficient way to communicate.”

For those who seem more compatible than crazed, there’s no question advantages of the Internet are innumerable.

“Through our shopping Web site, we can get people all over the country to support us who couldn’t come to our traditional bake sale or buy our oversized coloring books,” says Reed of Iowa City. “I did all my Christmas shopping on our site. And my 16-year-old son, who’s not a big shopper, as you can imagine, did all his shopping in a couple hours. He was just thrilled.”

The Sandhill Cyberspace Lions Club has 27 members from eight states. “The challenge has been getting the group together in one room to make a decision,” says Martin, who works in marketing communications for a health care network. “When you’re in cyberspace, of course, you’re not physically together, and that’s a real distinct disadvantage. (One member is based in the military in Japan. I don’t think she’ll be flying in for a meeting!)”

Uitti says having a Web site may help increase membership. “We’ve had new members come to our Watertown club who say, ‘I heard of you, and then when I actually went to your Web site, and read about you, I decided maybe I ought to be a part of that.’ But it’s not going to sell Lionism to a person out of the blue that never heard of us before.”

“Because of our electronic newspaper, everybody in town now knows about the Lions club, and we have people who want to serve the community joining us,” Roberson says. “Before, most folks in town didn’t even know there was a Lions club. The paper has been really, really good for the club. Each month an article or two outlines what the club is doing, whether it’s vision conservation or sponsoring the annual Lions Club Horse Show.”

Not that every Lion is on board.

In fact, two presidents of Lions clubs who were contacted for this article admitted that their knowledge of the Internet was, at best, extremely minimal. “The hardest thing is to get Lions to use, much less—and this is an important thing— purchase computers,” says Raines. “You really need one in your home. It’s not really feasible to go to the library all the time. But some people are just not ready in their waning years of life to go out and buy one. I know my Mom is that way.”

Asked if the reason why thousands of clubs don’t have a Web site could be because their members are intimidated by the Internet, Uitti replies, “To some extent, that could be the case. But Lions clubs are community-oriented. Some don’t see a real need to be extended beyond their town borders. In a lot of little towns, there is no Web presence. You know: ‘We have a traffic light, but we don’t have a Web site.’ But if a club sees that the local Rotary or the chamber of commerce has a site, then maybe the Lions should have one.”

As much progress as Lions have made, so much more can be done.

“While surfing the Internet, I’ve never seen a Web page advertisement promoting Lions membership on non-Lions Web pages,” notes Raines. “This would cost a little money, but it could be tried. Also, I believe it is time for every club and district board of directors to have a technology chairman or mentor as an official permanent position. District governors need to provide Web master training for their clubs at district quarterly meetings.”

Adds Allen, the district governor in California, “I think there should be more write-ups on Web sites as to what other clubs are doing well,” says. “The International site has tips about fund-raising, so local clubs could do that, too. That way, if one club runs a golf tournament, they could find out how another club handles it.”

There are some challenges to overcome, agrees Sandhill Cyberspace’s Martin, who hadn’t been a member of a traditional Lions club. “We call our cyberspace club ‘The Grand Experiment’ because that’s exactly what it is. We’ve only been around since June of 2006. But I truly feel it will work or I wouldn’t be committed to it.”

Decidedly, not everyone is fully grabbing Web benefits. “Clubs should
try to showcase the little, simple stuff—for example, the guest speakers at a
meeting or the names of new members,” says Diaz. “Maybe when someone reaches
the 20- or 25-year mark being a Lions member. Each club basically may have
several fund-raisers, but it isn’t just basically about fund-raisers. It’s about
individual members, too, and getting together, having fun.”
 
“We’re so much further along than we had hoped. A lot of Lions clubs make a Web page. So that’s pretty good,” Uitti notes. “Where they fall short is that they often don’t go back and bring it up to date. You might assume that some event in late April is coming up when it might have been three years ago.”

Uitti adds, “A number of clubs try to do a little bit of marketing work using the Internet. But they do that at the expense of using traditional marketing techniques like posters in the local windows of stores and the post office. The old- fashioned marketing still has its advantages. You know, you still have to beat the streets and peddle your services.”

Contrasted with those clubs that fall behind the curve, others have gone as far as to use video technology. “We do dabble but I want to do more,” says Diaz. “I did a video showcasing some of the things our Hammonton club did, and I think that probably helped our site get first place. Incidentally, I included our membership chairperson and past district governor dressed as
Elvis!”

As for blogging, it apparently isn’t in the picture yet.

“We’re not blogging in Le Grand or District 4 A-1,” says Raines. “To me, that’s something down the line. It’s cutting-edge, while we’re more like meat and potatoes right now. A lot of cutting-edge things don’t always last. I’ve seen attempts to get blogging going for Lionism in the last four years at least. At first it goes pretty well, then it fades. It hasn’t gotten really strong for Lions clubs that have tried it. That said, blogging would be a way to share ideas. It seems a good way for Lions to participate in their Web site.”

As for the future, perhaps triple-Web master Diaz sums it up best: “I think we as Lions still have to do more to tell what we’re about. Promoting Lionism through the Internet is a very cost-effective way to do that. I have some videos on my sites to showcase what Lions do, and I’m going to make more. Maybe if someone comes across them, they’ll consider learning more about Lionism. I mean, you have to get the word out. And pictures, too.”

“The Internet ultimately has a binding effect,” says Raines. “It brings club members and clubs throughout the world closer together. It also binds the present with the past and the future. Lions can have a brief or long chat with another Lion in their club or another club somewhere around the world. They can share ideas, successes and failures."

To which Michael Martin adds: “The beauty of the Web is that it offers a dimension for Lions around the world that hasn’t been there before. Without a doubt, it’s an honor and a privilege to be a Lion, and we want to maintain that standard, that presence, through the Web.”

Cliff Terry is a Chicago-based freelancer and former Chicago Tribune writer
and critic.